take your time

'take your time' - interpretation of a sketch I made in my sketchbook a few days back....

went away for a few days but I'm back already.... what can I say, another year, another quick trip to Brighton - we like it.... sat on a pebbly beach and kids 'fished' for seaweed, ate vegetarian sushi, did a lot of window shopping, did not take many photos this year due to having taken the same shots before but.....

a strange assortment .....



the west pier..... it was quite a brisk afternoon......

hope you have a good weekend and more soon x

Monday

A good Monday afternoon to you..... I had hoped to share a mosaic of favourites by other artists, but discovered too many white squares to make it worthwhile.... it seems people are choosing to tighten up on who can share their images, which I totally respect and understand... so I may have to re-think the mosaic situation, sadly but with appreciation to all who have shared their images previously....

So, what do I have to share..... in our garden right now we have some interesting new plants coming to life.... a nicotiana with green flowers, so pretty, and a purple stemmed angelica.... both quite otherwordly and apologies this is not the best photo, the light is a bit flat today plus my neighbour's fence does not work as the best backdrop - black would be good..... I'm looking forward to seeing the angelica in flower.... next year I will grow more of these. The nicotiana I grew from seed. The seeds took about a week to start and then sat there for a while not seeming to be doing very much - then suddenly I had seedling - and then a very hot few days killed many of them.... but what I do have I shall enjoy....

Right now I don't have new visual work to share, I'm working on ideas and experimenting with print making and sketches.... there's new work available in my shops and I'm happy with all the ideas I've been exploring so far this year, which makes the summer a brighter place....

I'm writing new poem notes, and will post later over at nevering.... I'm writing a lot and filling notebooks with ideas. I go through phases of not writing and then it happens that I kick myself and am reminded that putting poems together is something I need to do and wish to share....

What do you need to do? If you have to whittle it right down to the absolute essentials of how you express yourself and get through the days? I would say I have to write or else something in my brain does not feel exercised or energized. Also I have to make marks on a flat surface that are not words but can be shapes, stitches or lines in pencil/ink/paint... What is your thing or do you have the two (or three, or four)? I would be interested to know

Have a very good week

new sketches

imagined riches

a small selection of new mixed media sketches are now in my etsy..... it was time to update there, but I'll not be updating my shops now for a while as summer projects take over and new ideas have time to grow .....

have a good weekend x

monoprints

Abstract monoprints - working within a square.... see more here - I'll be adding a variety of images to my portfolio over the coming weeks (as well as sharing here, but it is nice to see it all in one place, and yes also over at flickr but I like the portfolio format so....)

issue 19

I recently participating in a collaborative artist book project: 'issue'.... the book produced is 'issue 19'. The project & book editor/creator was Hilary Wagstaff, with contributions from a variety of book artists. Many of the artists with pages featured in the book are MA art students in Cardiff, I believe. Each artist was invited to make an edition of seventeen folding out pages - they could be each different or an actual edition.

I chose to make my pages each individual but with similar elements, combining monoprint drawing with printed text, an inkjet print of a vintage photograph, machine stitch etc..

a view of my pages

a few others...



Hilary Wagstaff

Christian Olsen

Becky Adams

a beautiful book

*

There are only a few items in my Etsy shop so I will be updating again, this Friday, with a small selection of drawings.

Hope to share some new monoprint works tomorrow....

Monday

Happy Monday to you..... it would be rather useless of me to offer you a cup of tea in this cup.... there's something about papier mache when the light shines through the layers, especially when using pages from old books.... I like the interesting juxtaposition of words.... some of my favourite things today then: light, paper, and the word juxtapostion... (oh and tea)....

The cup above is just one of several papier mache pieces I'm fiddling about with over coming weeks, as I start to fathom out new designs for the future..... I will share more as and when... this summer is going to be very much about fathoming things and making for curiosities sakes....

also I am planning to continue to explore my monoprint making, as a I do feel there's more I want to do.....

hope you have a very good week....

ps. this weekend I was busy in our little garden and have collected Jacob's ladder and aqueligia seeds (dark purples will be hybrid)... if anyone in the UK/Europe would like some just email me your address and I will send - I'm looking for honesty seeds if anyone has any spare? but am happy to just send seeds to you if you would like some (sorry I cannot send to outside EU due to the customs rules thanks!)

new drawings

I have just updated my shop with several new monoprint drawings, mixed media collage - and a few patchwork kimono & natural dye fabric pincushions...... yes it has been a busy week....

This is my last shop update for a while, as the summer holidays are very close now and things change pace.... I will be busy still, making progress on new ideas as well as long-term existing projects. For example, I still need to complete the 'poetica' piece (as seen above in my banner!) and am looking forward to that....

Have a good weekend and hope you enjoy...

monoprint landscapes

monoprints - three from a growing series with the basic working title 'land & storm'.... these may seem different from my usual work but for me this is going back, going right back to where I began many years ago when working at college and making inky smudges and photographing Kew Gardens in black and white before the days of digital....

I really, really enjoy making monoprints - both the line drawings and the painterly landscapes..... give me a stack of paper and a tube of ink and I'm happy for several hours....

kimono inspiration

I have had some vintage kimono fabrics in my collection of 'special cloth' for a while now, and just recently felt inspired to incorporate snippets into my mixed media work.... I have made several brooches - truly mixed media - and each with a slightly different construction, which is good for me as each is a little design puzzle and an interesting journey. My starting point is a tiny stitched figure and from there I decide how she may be layered and how her surroundings may be, a patchwork of fabric and stitch.

The new brooches and other mixed media work will be in my shop later on this evening. I'm also working on new dolls and pincushions, again using the kimono fabrics, and they will be in my shop later on this week, on Friday - just to pace myself. I'm also making new work for a lovely new gallery opening and I will share more about that soon!

thank you and I hope you enjoy taking a look at my new work later this evening, if you have a moment to pop in.....

mosaic monday

1. Their Mother Waits For The Garden, 2. no title, 3. Invitados, 4. truth about the animal kingdom "I'm not your horse", 5. voices ride the wind, 6. crazy eight, 7. his story duty, 8. red, 9. fly away, 10. 4, 11. Lady, 12. i had almost given up...until i met you, 13. read a book, 14. Feline friends, 15. dressed lady1, 16. Human development as it relates to plant growth_30.6-1.7.2010, 17. Company - open book 4, 18. ache of temporal distance, 19. Staged Emotion, 20. Where you are

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

A bright Monday to you..... a short shower of rain and now sunshine... the gardens and parks round here really need a good prolonged few days of rain .... Many thanks to the artists featured in this mosaic of recent favourites via my Flickr friends and contacts.

This week I'm busy completing items for my shop update tomorrow. I hope to be including a lovely range of mixed media and other work.

I'm always busy working on new ideas and designs.... one thing leads to another. We have two more weeks until school holidays and then the pace of things changes a little, with my two at home and actually I really enjoying working alongside.... I will be working through the summer on new ideas. Now I have a piece of walnut-dyed cotton sitting on my desk and I think I've decided what I am going to use it for so......

have a very good Monday and more soon....

sketch sunday

A monoprint sketch..... which relates to what I have been doing this weekend...... as you may know, I enjoy making vintage inspired bears, for pleasure, for family - not your cuddly teddies but folk art bears. So I have a new bear blog, to keep a record of new designs and will be posting there as and when.... November Bears.

I hope you have had a good weekend. Thanks always for comments here and more soon.....

Friday - new mixed media

new mixed media work that I've been creating this week and finished today. The book is a collage of figure studies, combining monoprint drawing with mixed media embroidery.... The brooch features quite a tiny figure so you are seeing it BIG....

Enjoy your weekend....

monoprints

There is a reason why I have black oil paint on my knees* and under my nails... I'll be having a bath soon.... Today I've worked using two different methods of monoprinting..... the method I usually use for my line sketches, especially the figures, is placing paper over an 'inked' sheet of glass and drawing. The other method used today is to make an image in the paint on the glass and then print it off on to paper. I don't have a printing press. Oh I wish I did but I don't. So this latter method requires a good deal of trial and error, burnishing and pressure. I sometimes make more than one print, sometimes layer up and print twice on to the same paper..... it is all about experimenting which is what I like to do.....

All of these experiments and works in progress will evolve into other things, some monoprints may become part of a collage, others will be part of a book or a remain as a simple print to be framed or used in a sketchbook....

*I have marked knees because I've been kneeling up against the mat I was working on.... it will wash off.

Monday garden

Monday has just flown by.... it is evening already, I've been busy busy today.... yes the peas (growing in a crate by our back door) are doing their green thing so pleased... love sempervivum flowers, so starry...... a deep dahlia, actually deeper red than this photo....

This week I'm continuing to work on mixed media - you may have worked out already but July is my month of mixing media and especially using old books.... I like to have a focus each month. Last month it was stitched poetry and May was about the daily writing of poems (as well as making other things) I'm always drawing/painting alongside..... August, well I am still pondering the wonders of August, it's a month that asks to be a bit different, like a holiday.... I'm getting a few days away but won't be going on any long trips..... So August I have ideas.....

I'm also working on various publishing projects including my own book coming out of the 'here and there' project over at nevering......

I hope you have a very good creative week and more soon......

Sunday

A small collection of doll creatures..... these are not for sale, I have made them for my family to enjoy.... it's nice to make something 'for us' and at the same time test out design ideas..... I like to exercise my silly side, it's good to do that. I often show my children how a creature is coming together and they give me suggestions on what next. For example, the wide grin on the guy in the middle (that's smoke coming out his head!) was an idea my son gave me - my boy stuck his fingers in his mouth and stretched his lips: like this mum.... Working on facial expressions is really interesting, especially sharing them with my son who is autistic and sometimes does not 'read' faces with the same emotional confidence as someone else.... For a while my son would draw faces with eyes outside the head - almost like ears - and I knew why, but it is interesting now to see that more recently he draws people with eyes looking at you and is very particular about details in his drawings, gaining confidence all the time..... My teenage daughter is a Manga-inspired artist and really developing her own style....so her Manga interest may be influencing a bit too.....

Anyhow, I'm sharing the silly chaps today as I don't have new sketchbook pages to share this Sunday.

Have you seen ger's wonderful creatures? They are quite magical.....

Thanks and more soon.....

Friday

a new banner for my bigcartel shop - I've just updated with several new new new.....

enjoy your weekend and thank you for your comments here, much appreciated x

new mixed media

New mixed media pieces...... for my 'Romantics' series.... the figures are becoming quite abstracted and as always I enjoy the challenge of sewing through different materials.....

I was asked recently to share what kind of machine I have etc... this is a frequently asked question, I don't mind you asking at all, of course.... I have a basic machine, non computerized, with a clear foot and the dog feed down so that I can work using free motion stitches... I've had this machine for about eight or nine years at least and we've got to know each other pretty well....

I'll be updating my shop tomorrow with new sketches/paintings & mixed media